Scrutiny has Waugh on the defensive

All eyes were on Australian captain Steve Waugh during training at the Adelaide Oval yesterday in the lead-up to the second Test against India, starting tomorrow.
Picture: GETTY IMAGES

Despite his anger at the reaction to "the run out", or more probably because of it, Steve Waugh was still communicating about his communication breakdown with Damien Martyn yesterday.

It was an indication of Waugh's bitter displeasure about receiving most of the blame for the first Test mix-up that he kept the issue on the agenda during a media session at the Adelaide Oval yesterday.

The veteran Australian captain - and despite what the music charts say, the pre-eminent Australian idol of this summer - has throughout his career spoken his mind on numerous controversies. He has often confronted journalists when their views clashed with his, but has then usually moved on.

Most observers felt Martyn's reaction published in some newspapers on Wednesday would be the last hurrah about the incident. Instead, Waugh again said yesterday that he could not accept the amount, and nature, of publicity generated by the incident, which has become a public relations disaster at the start of his last summer of cricket.

The issue arose when Waugh was yesterday asked what message he would give the player who replaces him as an Australian middle-order batsman, considering the shoes that player would have to fill, and the pressures of the modern era, including from the media.

"It's going to be difficult. We had an example of that the other day, with, once again, going back to the run out. If people are made to pay for their mistakes so heavily, it's going to be difficult to be open talking to the media," Waugh said.

When another journalist observed that Waugh still seemed angered by the issue - which happened last Friday - Waugh showed his lingering chagrin.

"It's still in the papers, a week later. Are you going to blame fielders for dropping easy catches in the future? Where does it stop? A mix-up, a run out, and still seven days later we're still talking about it. I can't come to terms with that, no. It's not right. If you create issues like that, guys are going to be scared if they make a mistake out in the field, they're going to be thinking, 'What are the consequences of that?' "

Waugh said he accepted he would be very closely watched during this series against India. It would be an undesirable consequence of the 38-year-old's decision two weeks ago to announce he would retire from Tests at the end of the series, even if that announcement was partly motivated by a wish to reduce the attention on himself.

"Scrutiny's going to be there, no doubt about that, particularly on myself in my last series. But I made the decision in the belief it was the right decision - to get all the information out there and let's get on with the cricket," he said.

Still, it is inescapable that Waugh's announcement will mean this will be no normal summer of cricket for him. He admitted as much in saying the first Test in Brisbane had contained unwanted distractions of a kind he would try to avoid for tomorrow's second match in Adelaide.

An abnormality was the fact Waugh was the only batsman to be accompanied by a Channel Nine camera for what seemed an inordinately long time when he walked out to bat last Friday. Waugh said a Nine representative had apologised. The scene may be repeated, however, although Waugh says he will be more ready for it.

"It went a bit longer than I thought, so I was a little bit put off by that. If that sort of thing happens next time, I'll be a little bit better prepared for it," he said, adding his preparation for Adelaide would be "probably a bit more low-key".

"I'll just relax a bit, just go out and try and enjoy the cricket as much as you can and focus on the team, which we always do."

Waugh said Australia's substandard performance in Brisbane was also influenced by a scratchy preparation.

"When you turn up in Brisbane, from a captain's point of view, there's a lot of meetings, a lot of issues, a lot of sponsors," he said.

"Preparation's getting a bit harder these days, for all the players. There's a lot of commitments. I know in Brisbane, it was two days full on. We really hardly even had a chance to settle down and think about the match."